Adopt-a-Soldier Web Site
[Source: Associated Press]

By Elliott Minor Associated Press Writer

FORT BENNING, Ga. - Pamela Bates worried about getting depressed after her husband shipped out to Kuwait for the possible war with Iraq. Her solution was a project that keeps her busy 16 hours a day and lifts the spirits of thousands of soldiers living in tent cities in the Kuwaiti desert.

Her Adopt-A-Soldier Web site - Hugs to Kuwait - was originally intended to serve only members of her husband's unit, the First Battalion of the 10th Artillery Regiment from Fort Benning. But the overwhelming response from soldiers, military families and other supporters led her to expand it to all branches of the military and even to a British unit.

"I don't have a guarantee that my husband will return," she said. "I pray for his safety and I have to support those who watch his back everyday."

Bates launched the Web site on Jan. 4, two days before her husband, Sgt. Daniel Bates, boarded a plane for the Middle East. He is an artilleryman in the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, which would likely take the lead in an invasion of Iraq.

So far Bates has arranged the adoption of more than 9,800 troops, and 18,000 people from every state and 11 countries have applied. She and a group of volunteers screen the applicants and then link them with troops who agree to be adopted.
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posted by Tracy Justus at 3/6/2003  

Fire District Seeks OK to Replace 6 Stations
[Source: Los Angeles Times]

By Sandra Murillo

Expanding its construction program, the Ventura County Fire District will ask the Board of Supervisors today for tentative approval of its plans to replace six aging fire stations throughout the region and to build a new facility in northern Simi Valley.

Stations targeted for replacement are more than 40 years old and no longer meet operational, seismic and building code requirements, said Abbe Berns, assistant director of fire services. "There are all kinds of requirements that have changed in 50 years," Berns said.

The new stations, part of the district's ongoing capital improvement program, would meet all current operational requirements, she said.
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posted by Michael Burke at 3/4/2003